Cutting device



17, 1942- H. L. GLIDDEN 2, CUTTING DEVICE Fiie i March 8, 1940 Patented Mar. 17, 1942 CUTTING DEVICE Harvey L. Glidden, Lexington, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 8, 1940, Serial No. 322,998

3 Claims. (Cl. 164-23) This invention relates to cutting devices and is herein illustrated as embodied in a clicking machine for cutting shoe part blanks from sheet material such as leather or fabric.

It is an object of the present invention to pro-- provided with clamping members in the form of" two hoop irons extending along the sides of the block and secured together at their ends by bolts.

Heretofore, in the use of rectangular cutting blocks in clicking machines, difficulty has been experienced with die breakage at thecorner portions of the blocks due to the fact that the presser arm of the machine does not extend as far as the corners of the block and, consequently, if

a die is placed close to a corner the presser arm will strike the die in such manner as to force only part of the cutting edge into the block, thus straining the die. Partly because of this, the operator commonly performs the cutting operations upon the central portions of the cutting surface with the result that the corner portions of the block'are wasted. In the present construction, the corners are eliminated, thus tending to reduce die breakage. Furthermore, it has been found that the operator has a tendency to cut all over the block, thus rendering the cutting more uniform and causing the block to wear down evenly, and, since there are no corner portions to be removed upon resurfacing the block, considerable time is saved in performing that operation.

By reason of the curved outline of the block, the arm of the machine can be brought over a die positioned upon any part of the cutting surface thereof. Thus engagement of the arm with the entire die wherever located is ensured, something which was not accomplished by prior constructions in which rectangular blocks were used. In addition, the curved end portions of the block facilitate the handling of materials such as fine leathers, in that projecting corners, which might tend to interfere with the manipulation of the material or to damage it, are eliminated.

Furthermore, I have found that by the use of hoop irons, which closely engage the sides of the block, the sections of the block are securely. held against movement under varying temperature and humidity conditions, with the result that there is little or no tendency for seams to be formed between the sections, a commondefeet in blocks as heretofore constructed.

These and other features of the invention are disclosed in the following specification and accompanying drawings, and are pointed out in the claims 'In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a clicking machine embodying my invention; and Fig. 2 is an end view of the block illustrating a device for adjusting the clamping irons.

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a clicking machine having a block 4, apost 6 located atone side of the block and a presser arm 8 mounted upon the post for movement therewith, the arm'being' movable manually about the axis of the .post' heightwise of the block, the sections being firstassembled in rows extending transversely of the block and glued together, after which the'rows are assembled in a direction longitudinally of the The. rough block and likewise glued together. block is then shaped along its sides to form curved side portions l2 and more sharply curved end portions l4, so that the block is approximately oval in shape. The curvature of the side portions l2 corresponds closely to the arc forming the path of movement of the outer end of the presser member 8 as the latter is swung, so that when the block is assembled in the machine the edge portions of the block will nowhere extend beyond the area which can be covered by the likelihood of seams being formed longitudinally of the block. Furthermore, the curvature at the ends of the block makes it possible to use a single end section 16, with the result that there are no joints at the extreme end portions of the block. The block is provided with clamping irons in the form of two hoop members l8, each of which is of sufilcient size to extend from one end of the block to the other along the side portions I2 and end portions I4. The ends of the hoops l8 are provided with L-shaped clamping members 20 riveted thereto and having ear portions 22 through which extend bolts 24 by which the clamping irons can be secured together, gripping between them the body portion of the block.

In order to prevent the irons from working down under vibration caused by cutting operations upon the cutting surface of the block, as shown at 36 in Fig. 2, the side Walls of the block are tapered slightly from the bottom of the block to the upper surface thereof. Thus, when the irons are clamped tightly about the block, the

taper will prevent their downward movement.

In order to facilitate the assembly of the irons upon the block, I make use of two fixtures each comprising a U-shaped iron 26, of somewhat greater length than the width of the block and having down-turned end portions 23 each provided with three openings which are in alinement with the corresponding openings at the other end of the fixture 26. These openings are screw threaded and are arranged to receive hand screws 32. The distance between the center of the lowermost opening and the undersurface of the body portion of the fixture 26 is substantially equal to one-half the height of a new cutting block. Thus, when it is desired to assemble the clamping irons l8 upon a new block, two irons 26 are positioned across the clamping irons l8 with the hand screws 32 located in the lowermost of the openings 30 and extending into openings 34 in the irons l8. At this time the bolts 24 are in position to hold the irons I8 together but are loose. The whole assembly is then slipped over the cutting block and the irons l8 permitted to drop as far as they will go, that is, until the fixtures 26 engage the upper surface of the block. When this occurs, the irons [8 will be located halfway between the upper and lower surfaces of the block in proper position best to reinforce the block. The bolts 24 are then tightened and the irons 26 are removed.

In the use of the block, as the surface wears down, eventually it will be necessary to resurface the block, which is usually done by a rotary plane or other suitable cutting tool. The adjustment of the clamping irons I8 need not be disturbed until sufficient of the block material has been removed, so that the cutting surface closely approaches the upper edges of the irons. When that occurs, the fixtures 26 are again used to position the clamping irons l8. This time, the hand screws 32 are inserted in the middle openings 30, and after the bolts 24 are loosened the irons l8 are again dropped down until the fixtures 26 engage the block surface, with the result that the clamping irons [8 are located in a new position substantially midway between the lower face of the block and the new upper face. This position of the irons is illustrated by means of dotted lines 38 in Fig. 2. Upon further wear of the block, the clamping irons l8 can be lowered again and located in position by the fixtures 26 with the screws 32 in the uppermost holes 30. Finally, when the block is suf iciently worn down, the irons l8 are lowered until they embrace the cutting block along its lower edges. Thus, I have provided a reinforced cutting block which need not be turned over for the purposes of resurfacing, and one in which the clamping irons can readily be adjusted for variations in the height of the block during its entire life.

, Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A clicking machine having a vertically reciprocating post and a presser arm secured to the post for movement vertically therewith and for movement about the axis of the post, in combination with a cutting block having a horizontally disposed cutting surface lying entirely within the area covered by the arm in its traverse, the forward edge portion of which is curved along the path of movement of the outer end of the arm.

2. For use in combination with a clicking machine having a power actuated presser beam mounted for transverse swinging movements, a cutting block having a cutting surface, the forward edge portion of which is curved approximately to coincide with the path of the swinging movement of the forward end of the beam of the machine, all edge portions of the surface lying 4& within the area covered by the beam in its 

